Wire-feeding mechanism.



e. A. AMBLER. WIRE FBBDING MEGHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED OGT. l2, 1911.

Patented Sept. 9, 1913,

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

e. A. AMBLER. WIRE FBEDING MBGHANISM.

APLIGATION FILED 00T 12, 1911.

1 ,072,803, e Patented Sept. 9, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Mr I

COLUMBIA PLANouR/mls co..w^Sm'NGToN. D. c,

G.` A. AMBLBR. WIRE PEEDING MEGHANISM.

APPLICATION :FILED 00T. 12, 19112 11,072,803, Patented Sept. 9, 1913.

, 3 SHEETS- SHEET a.

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esonera A. Marianna, er Winona-sana, Massnorrnsnrrs, Assronon 'Jo UnrrED, srion MACHINERY contrarier, QF Eik-ransom', NEW JERSEY, e. sos-roan'rron or new JERSEY.

' Specijeaton of Letters Patent.

wiss-Femme immersa.

12, iai-1. semaine. 654,236.

To, all 'whom t may concern Be it known that I, Gnonon A. AMBLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Winchester, in the county of Middlesex and VState of hfassachusettsfhave invented certain Improvements in VVire-Feeding Mech'- anisms, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like `reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures. Y "i This invention relates to. wire feeding mechanism and( particularly to wire feeding mechanism `which is especially adapted for use in fastening inserting machines in which the fastening uis formed fro-rn a measured length of wire.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a wire feeding mechanism which will feed into fastening forming position predetermined lengths of wire at' whatever speed the machineniay loe operated. f ln designing a. fastening inserting machine to ,operate at high speed one of the difficulties encountered has been that of providing a wire feeding mechanism which is so positive in its operation thatthe required length of wire willbefed for each operation of the machine, particnlarly when provision is made for varying the length of the fasten# ing by varying the amount of wire fed. In the machine to which the invention is yherein shown as applied it is desired that a uniform length of wire be fed to the fastening forming mechanism for each of the successive operations of the machine upona single piecek of work, the machine being especially adapted for performing the operation lmrnown as slugging.)J `inasmuch as the slugs are usually comparatively short, it is important that at least wire enough tol form a slug of the full length he fed at each operation. VIt is, therefore, important that the operation. ofthe wire feeding mechanism be positive. Another objectr of the invention, therefore, is the provision of a wire feeding mechanism which is so positive in operation that when adjusted to feeday particular measured length ,of wire it will feedv this length with precision at'each operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a wire feeding 4mechanism which' may he easilythrown out of operation when it l is desired to interrupt the feeding of wire.

Other objects of the invention will heapparent from a, consideration of the followmg description and claims` in connection with the7 accompanying drawings, in which,--Y i i Figure 1 is a side elevation of the` upper part o-f a machine for inserting fastenings Patented Sept. 9, 19131. y Original application filed October 2S, 190,6, Serial No. 340,707. Divided and this application filed October having` embodied therein a preferred formv y of theiwirefeeding mechanism of this inveny.. f tion; Fig. 2 is a front'elevation drawn to ya c.

slightly'largerv scale; Fig. 3 isadetail front elevation partly in section of the essential parts of the wire feeding mechanism,V and lfig. 4 isaV detail sideA elevation, alsoy partly in section, of the wire feeding' mechanism.

The. machine in which the invention is shown as embodied is adapted lespecially for performing theopera-tion rnown asl slugging and is more` fully shown and described y in my Patent No. 1,005,920, granted Octo-4 berl, 1911, of which patent the present application is a division.v For the purposes Y of thiS application it willsuihc-e to point out the principal parts of the said machine with which the wire feeding mechanism is associated or from which it is operated.

The machine comprises a standard 12 upon which is mounted the head 14. A; driving shaft 16 is carried in suitable hearings inthe head 14 and is driven from any suitable source of power vhy means of a belt passing over the fixed pulley 18, the belt heing transferred to the loose pulley 20 when itis desired to stop the driving shaft. Non mallyrthe driving shaft is kept in motion andthe insertion of fasteninas 'is stopped by stopping the wire feed and hy throwing the awl out of operation, as more fully set forth in the patent alcove identified.' A hand `wheel 22 is provided for turning the shaft mechanism in proper time relation to theV movement of the driver. A second cam disk 58 is provided with a cam groove. from whichV the awl is operated.

The wire feeding mechanism herein illustrated comprises an arm 92 mounted loosely.`

upon a rock-shaft 90, `the arm 92 being loosely connected by a link 94 to a lever 96,

the link 94 is adjustably connected to the lever 96 through a pin and slot connection 100 and by the adjustment of this connection the movement of the arm 92 may be length.- ened or shortened. The arm 92 carries a wire gripper in the form of a pawl 102 pivoted on the arm at 104 and provided with a serrated edge eccentric with its pivot, as

' is usual. A spring 106 controls the move- Aof `the spring.

ment of the.V gripper in one direction and a stop 108 limits its action under the force The Wire V is led from a suitable source of supply through a guide 110 to be hereinafter described 'and past the serrated edge of the wire gripper 102 into a guide or groove 112 in the machine and thence to the wire severing mechanism. rl`he arm 92 also carries on the side of the wire opposite to the gripper 102 a movable presser 114, having preferably a rounded surface which is normally inoperative to aid in gripping the "wire A preferred form of mechanism for rendering this mechanism 114 operative comprises a U-shaped arm 116,

which may be termed a wire feeding controller, having its legs securely mounted on the rock-shaft- 90, one on each side ofthe wire feeding arm 92. The rock-shaft 90 is rocked by suitable connections with'the awl operating cam 58 hereinabove referred to. These connections may comprise, as herein shown., an arm 89 fixed on the rock-shaft 90 and connected by an adjustable connection 88 with a second arm 47 upon a rock-shaft 48, which is constantly rocked while the main shaft is in operation by connections with the cam 58 comprising a lever arm 52 having at its upper end a cam roll which enters a groove in the cam 58. The adjustable connection 88 is set when the machine is rst set up so that the throw of the cam 58 will impart to the wire feeding controller 116 a movement suicient to feed the longest fastening desired. The adjustment of the connection 88 is not Vthereafter altered. The U portion of the arm 116 is provided on its inner side with` a spring-pressed plug 118 having a surface kconsisting of abeveled portion 120 and a face 122 which is eccentric to the pivotal center of the Varm 92. As the feed controller moves upwardly, the siii'- face 120 of plunger 118 engagesthe presser 114, forcing .it toward the wire and thus forming an unyielding surface against which the wiremay be gripped by the gripper 102 as the arm 92 movesdownwardly, the feed controller at this time also moving downwardly with the arm and maintaining its pressure on the wire. The feed controller is also providedwith a screw 124 having an eccentric head 126 adapted to bear against a portion of the plug 118 for varying the position of the plug to accommodate the feed of wire of varying sizes.

The cams 24 and 58 controlling respectively the movements of the arm 92 and the wire feed controller 116 are so designed and mounted on the main shaft that the arm 92 returns to its starting position while the feed controller 116 is heldy stationary at the lower end of its stroke, whereby the presser 114 is again released and the gripper 102 thereby rendered inoperative to feed the wire. On its way through the guiding groove 112 the wire passes a spring-pressed pawl 128 arranged to prevent backward movement of the wire during the time the arm 92 is returning to its initial position preparatory to making another feeding stroke. rlhis vpawl 128 may be rendered inoperative when desired through an eccentric 130 on one end ofa hand lever 131. After passing pawl 128 the wire is forced by the movement of the feeding arm 92 into a hole 132 in a sliding block 134. The hole 132 registers with the hole 112 when the block 134 isat one of the limits of its sliding movement. A reciprocaticn of this block 134 acts to shear 0H the length of wire which has been fed into the hole 132 and to bring the severed portion in line with the driver 32.

If the machine is to drive two fastenings at each operation provision must be made for feeding two lengths of wire and this is preferably done as herein shown by duplicating the wire feeding mechanism so that a length of wire is fed from each of two strips. As shown in the drawings, a second feeding arm 92 is provided which carries feeding devices similar to those of the arm 92 heretofore described. This arm 92 may be connected by a link 94', through an Vadjusting mechanism similar to 100, to the lever 96. The feed controller 116 is niade large enough to embrace both of the to the end 192.v Then arm 190 is in the po-V sition shownin dotted lines in Fig.V 3, the

ksurface 196 engages the pin 198 which projects from the gripping pawl'102 and serves to 4confine one end of thespring which acts upon said pawl. If the end 191 of the arm 190 is moved to the left, Fig. 3, the'surface 194 will be placed in engagement with the i construction. Ina-smuch as th`e wire guide does not form a feature of the invention herein claimed, it is suiicient for the purposes of this specification to point out that it is provided with two anti-friction members, such as rolls 204. and 206, the distance between which may be adjusted by means of a set screw 208 so that any thickness of wire may be admitted between. them. In order to insert or remove the wire from the guide, one of the rolls may be yieldingly mounted and connectedto a hand operated eccentric 210v which may beV rotated to withdraw it from the other roller. These rollers may be so formed and positioned as to present correctly any character of wire to the feeding devices. In the use of the invention the arm 92, carrying the spring-pressed pawl 102 and the presser 114, between which the wire W is held, comes to rest in position to determine the feed of a definite length of wire at the next operation of the machine. `When the machine is started the wire controller 116 moves upwardly about pivot 90 a distance sufficient to cover the longest movement of the arm 92 and the beveledy surface 120 of the yieldingly supported lug 118 on the controller 116 contacts with the wire presser 114, causing the wire to be gripped vbetween the pawl 102 Aand the presser 114, any excess of movement of the controller 116 after it has acted on the presser being taken up by the yieldingly supported plug 118. rIhe arm 92 is now moved downwardly to feed the length of wire to the-.severing mechanism, the feed controller 116 also moving downwardly with the arm 92 and maintaining its pressure on the wire through the presser 114. kThe cams are so timed that the arm 92 returns in advance of the controller 116, thereby releasing the grip of the presser 114 on the wire and stops in such position that it will feed the required length of wire on the succeeding operation of the machine.

I-Iaving described my invention,'what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters" Pat-ent of the United States is 1. In a machine of the class described, a reciprocatory feeding arm carrying a wire gripper and a normally inoperative wire presser arranged to act upon the opposite side of the wire, and means arranged to travel with said arm and movable relatively thereto for engaging said presser at the top of the stroke of the feeding arm to render the gripper operative to feed wire and means for positively effecting the relative movement of said arm and said engags ing means. K

2. In a machine of the class described,` a pivoted arm, means for oscillating said arm about its pivot, a wire gripper and a normally inoperative wire presser carried by said arm, a second arm mounted on said pivot having a surface eccentric therewith, and means for oscillating said second arm to bring said eccentric surface into engagement with said presser at the top of the stroke of the first-named arm to render the gripperoperative to feed wire.

3. In a 'machine of the class described, a plurality of reciprocatory arms each provided with a wire-gripping pawl for feeding wire and arranged to be operated simultaneously with another arm to feed the wire, and movable means constantly engaging one of said pawls constructed to lock said pawl out of action when in one position and to allow it to freely perform its function when in another position whereby the number of lwires fed at a single operation may be varied.

4. In a machine of the class described, a plurality of reciprocatory arms each provided with a wire gripping pawl for feeding wire and arranged to be operated simul-` taneously with another arm to feed the wire, and movable means under control of the operator constantly engaging one of said pawls and constructed to lock said pawl out of action when in one position and to allow it to freely perform its function when in another position whereby the number of wires fed at a single operation may be varied.

5. Ina machine ofthe class described, a plurality of pivoted arms each provided with a wire gripping pawl for feeding wire, means for'oscillating said arms, aV movable member mounted on said pivot adjacent to one of said arms constantly engaging one of said pawls with o-ne of two surfaces thereon each concentric to said pivot but of different radii, whereby said pawl may be rendered operative vor inoperativeto feed wire.

In testimony whereof I have signed my vname to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE A. AMBLER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. C. 

